Allowing kids to play with their food in this art project as well as help in the kitchen preparing a veggie-filled spring pasta engages them in the process and ingredients making them more open to trying new foods. My daughter and I made this recipe and art project with friends at our first Hunting and Gathering Summer Camp (www.huntingandgathering.co) and the kids loved it! Many tried new veggies and learned new Italian words like orecchie which means ears and primavera for spring.
Roasting the veggies in the pasta primavera helps bring out the natural sweetness of normally bitter varieties like radishes (which even my three year old eats!). Infusing the olive oil with the herbs instead of tossing them in chopped helps add the flavor without the extra green stuff for picky eaters to want to pick out.
Broccoli Trees • Cut broccoli from bunch and then slice “trees” in half to make a flat edge. • Dip the flat side in green paint. • Stamp trees on paper to make a print of trees.
(Kids can also add fruits that grow on trees like apples, cherries, bananas, oranges and lemons, with other colors and learn about which fruits grow on trees at the same time.)
PASTA PRIMAVERA: PASTA WITH SPRING VEGETABLES
Ingredients:
1 bunch broccoli, roughly chopped
1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ pound fresh spinach (arugula or Swiss Chard also work)
(Or try other veggies: mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, carrots)
12 ounce box orecchiette (or other preferred pasta)
½ cup parmesan cheese
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
1 cup olive oil (½ cup olive oil for roasting veggies, plus another ½ cup for infusing/tossing on pasta)
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon each: parsley, basil, oregano (optional)
Instructions:
• In a Dutch oven or large pot, boil pasta and cook al dente (12 minutes). Drain and set aside.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees F and roast veggies with garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper for 15-25 minutes, until tender. (I roast the veggies because this method brings out the natural sweetness in normally bitter vegetables like radishes making them more palatable for young taste buds.)
• Infuse the other ½ cup olive oil with garlic cloves, herbs like parsley, basil and oregano. (Can be made several days in advance and extras for gifts!) Toss pasta and veggies with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and parmesan cheese if desired. Add heat by sprinkling with crushed red pepper flakes. (The infused olive oil is a great way to get the flavor of the herbs without kids wanting to pick out all the “green stuff.”) Serve warm or room temp as a pasta salad.*Add protein to this dish by adding cannellini beans (white beans), canned tuna, sausage or chicken.
